Monteverdi: Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria

Boston Baroque / Martin Pearlman

Linn CKD 451

3CDs

Monteverdi’s lengthy, problematic opera
Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria is gloriously realised by
Boston Baroque with youthful, passionate soloists, and a
gorgeous palette of
vivid instrumental colour. In a recording of
immediacy and perspec-
tive (the grunts of the suitors attempting to
bend the bow are
uncomfortably realistic) and intelligent,
tasteful decisions, Martin
Pearlman’s new performing edition realises it all
with no awkward
cuts – as Telemachus sings at the start of Act
II: ‘dolce, dolce’.